


Lullaby for Lizzie

by demonfire57



Series: Stories of IT's Victim [8]
Category: IT (1990), IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Best Friends, Childhood, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Dreams and Nightmares, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 05:15:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19266583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonfire57/pseuds/demonfire57
Summary: Nightmares used to be a thing of the past, but it seems they can still make an appearance every once in a while.





	Lullaby for Lizzie

The last of the lights went out, plunging the apartment into darkness except for the dim glow coming from my room at the end of the hall. Footsteps padded across the thin carpeted flooring as I made my way into the bedroom.

I grabbed a few pieces of clothing and toss them into the hamper before going around the room, organizing a few things here and there before crawling into the bed. I pulled the covers up and flicked off the lights and closed my eyes, allowing sleep to take me.

_ Lizzie stood high above the crowd as they watched in awe. The drums began to roll as she dived off the platform on which she stood and into a large pool of water that sat beneath. _

_ A loud splash and the crowd cheered as a clown came forward and leaned over the pool to see if the child would appear. Her head popped up and squirted water at the friendly face before giggling as the clown shook his head, the mop of red hair flicking the droplets of water into the air. _

_ "Come on out, Lizzie-bean," the white faced creature spoke, smiling, "We need to get you dried off and into something warm." _

_ The youngster grabbed the clown's offered hand and was pulled up and out before being wrapped in a towel around her small frame. When the white gloves pulled away, Lizzie noticed red spots on the fabric. _

_ A frown marred her features and when she looked up at the clown before her, she had to take a step back as a hand covered her mouth in shocked horror. _

_ His appearance was still the same; white painted face, red puffed hair, yellow suit with a blue jacket and orange pom poms, and large black shoes. However, blood was splattered across his features and clothing, dark claws had erupted from his once white pristine gloves, and his grinning painted  mouth was filled with hundreds of little teeth, each the size of needles. _

_ "What's wrong, Lizzie-bean?" the voice of the clown was distorted, as if two people were speaking at once, "Feeling a little fear?" _

_ Lizzie took off, dropping the towel and bolting toward the flaps of the tent as drops of blood fell behind her. _

_ There were no more people, like the tent had been deserted for years. Dust fell from the sky like snow, and the only audience that remained were skeletal, shreds of clothing hung from their frames as they looked on through empty sockets. _

_ Lizzie could feel the stickiness of blood cling to her skin as she ran, pounding footsteps behind her only keeping her aware of the creature that was chasing her through the empty tent. _

_ "Come back here, Lizzie-bean! Pennywise only wants to play! Play hide and seek!" _

_ The sickening laughter echoed all around her before a clawed hand grabbed her arm. She screamed as the creature pulled her back against his blood covered chest. _

_ "Gotcha! Now, Lizzie-bean, you're mine. My Lizzie-bean! My-" _

"Lizzie-bean!"

I woke with a start to see a familiar face hovering over me.  

White gloves held my arms, keeping my once thrashing body to the bed as the concerned face of Pennywise the Dancing Clown hovered about, his eyebrows folded inward as his lips rested in a thin line behind the red paint. His golden eyes watched my face as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before relaxing. He pulled away, allowing me to press a hand to my forehead.

_ Just a dream. Just a bad dream... a nightmare. _

I breathe out a sigh of relief before turning to smile at the creature before me, "Thanks Pen."

"What the hell was that about?" the clown growled, razor teeth clenched tightly.

"It wasn't anything to be concerned about, Pennywise. It was just a dream, a bad one at that."

"About what, Lizzie-bean?"

"Penny-"

"What was it about?"

I raise my eyebrow at him, "You're not going to let this go are you?"

"Nothing has a right to scare you and keep you up at night," Pennywise smiled, a gloved hand resting to the back of my head and becoming entangled in the mass of dark locks, "That would be my privilege and mine alone."

I chuckled, "Well, you were there... you were in my dream chasing me when I was a child. You were trying to kill me, and you nearly succeeded."

The clown's eyes shifted downward before lifting back up to meet mine.

When he wasn't hungry, Pennywise's eyes often reminded me of storm clouds as they slowly rolled across the sky. But his yellow-golden eyes told a story of bright suns and endless mornings. They also would be described as fire burning across the plains, consuming everything and anything in its path.

As I looked into those monster eyes of fire, a sense of calm fell over me. I could feel some of the clown's hypnosis working its way through my system, keeping me frozen in my place like a snake with a bird. I heard Pennywise chuckle softly before murmuring, "You know I would never harm you intentionally, my little Lizzie-bean. You have made a friend with fear itself, so why would you have a nightmare of me wanting to frighten you?"

I honestly had no answer to his question. It was still possible that in the back of my head, I was still afraid of him. The idea that it was true came to no surprise.

Pennywise was a creature to be feared by everything and everyone. With a flash, he could become someone's worst fear. With a snap of his jaws, a child could be killed or at least seriously injured. The worst, however, was with one stare from his deadlights, a child could fall into an endless slumber with no dreams, no sense of reality, nothing for them to grab onto.

In Spite of all that, I was the only one he spared. The only one he could never truly harm nor kill. I shook my head as Pennywise's familiar smile returned.

"That's my girl," he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to my temple, "I'll keep the nightmares at bay and let you get some well needed rest."

"But aren't you tired?"

The clown's dark rumble of laughter brought a sense of comfort, "I've slept for twenty-seven years, Lizzie-bean. I won't need sleep for a few more months at the most."

I curled up on the bed as Pennywise settled beside me, arm resting around my shoulders in  comfort. I could remember a time when I had fallen asleep in Pennywise's arms.

_ The darkness of the room caused shadows to dance on the walls. The moonlight shone in through the window as Lizzie tucked herself closer to her body. _

_ The cool night air flowed into the sleeping girl's room from a crack in the window, left open by the lady of the household. By standards, it was supposed to be a warm night, and it was except for the breeze that came up from the waterways near the small town of Derry. _

_ A shadow crossed over the window then, the creature monstrous and caused all the fears to go hiding under the little girl's bed. Apparently, she was being visited by a demon. There came a scratching noise as claws gripped under the window and pushed it open wider, a small squeaking noise echoing quietly in the room. A white face popped in as pale blue eyes shifted all around, checking every nook to make sure nothing would disturb him. The creature pulled himself forward, landing on his feet as he back flipped into the child's room. _

_ No sound entered the room when Pennywise landed, only the slight shifting of Lizzie as she moved under the covers before settling. _

_ It was supposed to be so easy. Just go in, take the child, and leave to devour her in one bite. Pennywise crept to the edge of the bed, gruesome claws sprouting from his gloves and mouth dripping with saliva at the idea of finally taking a taste. _

_ Then, he heard a soft whimper float from the small child as the first tears spring from her closed eyes, making small tracks on her pale skin like so many had before. Lizzie clutched her doll he had given her for Christmas, as if it was a guardian and would protect her from all the monsters that made appearances inside her head. _

_ Instead of snatching her up, he rested a clawed hand against her head, stroking the hair away from her face in comfort as he knelt beside her bed. _

_ "It's alright, Lizzie-bean," the monster spoke softly, "I'm here. No one will hurt you now." _

_ Her eyes snapped open, tears still falling silently. Lizzie blinked in surprise as the clown above her stroked her hair, settling her, "It's alright Lizzie-bean. It was just a dream." _

_ "It felt so real! You were there! And you were going to..." _

_ Pennywise watched as the girl fell silent before letting more tears fall as she sniffled, clutching the doll closer to her body. _

_ "Lizzie-bean, have I ever laid a hand on you in harm?" _

_ "No." _

_ "You have enough monsters to deal with tonight, Lizzie-bean. Besides, you can trust me, can't you?" _

_ The little girl nodded before crawling into the clown's lap and resting her head against his chest. Pennywise continued to stroke her hair as her eyes slowly closed. _

My eyes slowly drifted closed as the familiar voice of the monstrous clown murmured, "Sleep tight, Lizzie-bean."

**Author's Note:**

> Comments? Kudos?


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